Overview
Maiko Masquerade explores Japanese representations of the maiko, or apprentice geisha, in films, manga, and other popular media as an icon of exemplary girlhood. Jan Bardsley traces how the maiko, long stigmatized as a victim of sexual exploitation, emerges in the 2000s as the chaste keeper of Kyoto’s classical artistic traditions. Insider accounts by maiko and geisha, their leaders and fans, show pride in the training, challenges, and rewards maiko face. No longer viewed as a toy for men’s amusement, she serves as catalyst for women’s consumer fun. This change inspires stories of ordinary girls—and even one boy—striving to embody the maiko ideal, engaging in masquerades that highlight questions of personal choice, gender performance, and national identity.
Full Product Details
Author: Jan Bardsley
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.408kg
ISBN: 9780520296442
ISBN 10: 0520296443
Pages: 300
Publication Date: 09 March 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
[An] informative and stimulating book. . . .Maiko Masquerade... highlights a complex and relatively unknown world. * Monumenta Nipponica * Bardsley presents a provocative, comprehensive look at the representation of maiko and girl culture in Maiko Masquerade. Not only is it a great contribution to scholarship on maiko, but it also demonstrates the politics and power of representation. * Journal of Asian Studies * Bardsley's deep and thoughtful analysis also draws our attention to the elements of maiko life and work that are not publicly discussed. . . .an ideal resource for teachers of undergraduate and postgraduate Japanese Studies and Gender Studies...The provocative and perceptive questions that the volume raises will inform future scholarship on this fascinating topic. * Journal of Gender Studies * Deeply researched and carefully constructed. . . .Maiko Masquerade is full of many surprising discoveries. Bardsley writes with a light touch that successfully draws the reader in to her analytic project. Even to one who lives here, Kyoto and Japan appear different now. * Journal of Gender Studies/Jenda Kenkyu *
[An] informative and stimulating book. . . .Maiko Masquerade... highlights a complex and relatively unknown world. * Monumenta Nipponica *
Author Information
Jan Bardsley is Professor Emerita of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan and the award-winning The Bluestockings of Japan: New Woman Essays and Fiction from Seitō, 1911–1916.
